mitai vs maru

[Fehrant]

What's the technical difference between mitai and maru (de)? Both express likeness to something. Please provide examples.

どうも。

 

[leonmarino]

Hm.. It is hard to explain. But intuitively, marude sounds like "truely like" or "truely as if", whereas mitai is just "like".

彼はまるでアホのように飲んでいる。
kare wa marude aho no you ni nondeiru.
He is truely drinking like a fool.
彼は優しい人みたい。
kare wa yasasii hito mitai.
He seems like a nice man.

They're no synonyms though, as they can also be used in a combination:

彼はまるでお父さんみたい。
kare wa marude otousan mitai.
He looks exactly (or truely) like (my) father.

Marude can also be in the following way:

彼の話はまるでたわごとだ。
kare no hanashi wa marude tawagoto da.
His story is utter nonsense.

As you can see marude is always in the beginning of a sentence where as mitai is at the end. To summarize/simplify it, I'd say mitai is the simple English "like", and marude can be used, in combination or solo, to put emphasis on the likeness.

 

[Fehrant]

ありがとうございます、sealionさん。

I understand the slight discrepancies between both, however, given my newbie status I'm not sure I could put it to practice myself, or come up with intricate examples such as maru de and mitai in the same sentence.

While I'm at it, the multifarious use of ように has always puzzled me, I know it means "in order to" but it also changes accordingly to context. In that particular sentence, I cannot understand its use. Care to enlighten me? I know it might be too much to ask, yet seing it used so often doesn't help my anxiety to understand its use.

 

[epigene]

ように has many usages, so I'll post the following for clarity:

This is from Jim's Japanese Grammar Summary

Jim's Japanese Grammar Summary

SEEMS ../LIKE .../AS IF
よう／ように／ような
example: この問題はちょっと難しい（むずかしい）ようですね。
Kono mondai wa chotto muzukashii you desune.
This problem seems a bit difficult.

example: トニーさんはスーパーマンのような人です。
Tonii-san wa suupaa-man no you na hito desu.
Tony is [a person who is] like Superman.

example: トニーさんはカステラさんのように走ります。（はしる）
Tonii-san wa Kasutera-san no you ni hashiri masu.
Tony runs like (Mr.) Castilla.

SO THAT ../IN ORDER TO...
Verb (plain) ように

example: 雨が入らないように窓を閉めてください。（まど）
Ame ga hairanai you ni mado wo shimete kudasai.
Please close the window so that the rain won't come in.

example: 漢字を覚えるように毎日勉強しなければなりません。（おぼえる）
Kanji wo oboeru you ni mainichi benkyou shinakereba narimasen.
I/You have to study every day in order to master kanji.

WARN .../TELL HER(HIM)../I ASKED HIM TO ... i.e. reported requests
~ように plus a reporting verb

example: 五分ぐらい待つようにあの人に言ってください。
Gofun gurai matsu you ni ano hito ni itte kudasai.
Please tell that person to wait for about 5 minutes.

example: お菓子（おかし）を買うように主人に頼みました。（たのむ）
Okashi wo kau you ni shujin ni tanomi mashita.
I asked my husband to buy snacks.

TRY .../MAKE AN EFFORT TO ...
~ようにする

example: これからはもっと早く来るようにしてください。
Korekara wa motto hayaku kuru you ni shite kudasai.
Please try to come earlier from now on.

example: タバコは一日１０本以上は吸わないようにしています。（すう）
Tabako wa ichinichi jippon ijou wa suwanai you ni shite imasu.
I'm trying not to smoke 10 or more cigarettes a day.

NOW ABLE TO ../FINALLY ..
Verb ようになる
(implies change of state over a period of time)

example: 三年ぐらい勉強してから日本語が話せるようになります。
Sannenn gurai benkyou shite kara nihongo wo hanaseru you ni narimasu.
You will be able to speak Japnese after studying about 3 years.

example: 隣（となり）の赤ちゃんは、歩けるようになります。
Tonari no akachan wa arukeru you ni narimasu.
The neighbor's baby will [eventually] be able to walk.

 

[Fehrant]

epigeneさん、ありがとう。

Now I have to patiently sit and look up the kanji.